Just when I set off to watch 'Hawks in action

Got my plane tickets and hotel reservation in Chicago safely deposited on my desk. The November 2 date features the Chicago Blackhawks and the Detroit Red Wings game in red in my calendar. I already checked how much time it's going to take us to get from the hotel to the United Center (which should be less than 30 minutes).

And then it hit me. The key 'Hawks did not manage to stay healthy long enough for me to see them live. Martin Havlat is out with a sprained right ankle for another 2-3 weeks, Nikolai Khabibulin broke his finger and is not coming back for another 2 weeks, while Michal Handzus just got the season-ending ACL tear...

Oh, well - I'm gonna go see this game anyway. Watch your backs, Brent Seabrook and Lasse Kukkonen - I'll be watching *you* since all the other guys I wanted to see are out :).

United Center in Chicago
(photo courtesy of www. nhlfr.fr)